Dear Reader –
This week’s features lots about classical music and the GAA - strange bedfellows but their worlds do collide sometimes…read on for more!
Last week’s answers:
Answer to the questions in last week’s letter: 6 beats in a bar. 9 bars in the Intro.
**All hyperlinks in bold.
The Big Thing
“They practise without being asked” - so went the title of an August 2022 edition of this letter.
And for parents of music students - that is the dream. But most of us know that it doesn’t always happen. I see it with my own children, and hear about it from talking to parents of students over the years. Indeed I have had a few of these conversations in recent weeks, so I thought I’d share the advice I gave in case it is relevant to anyone reading.
I will always ask first if the student is enjoying the lessons. If they aren’t, then it’s probably a sign that learning the piano isn’t for them right now.
If they are however, then even if they aren’t doing much practice at home, it’s worth considering keeping them at it. At a basic level, giving our children the chance to play music is one of the greatest gifts we can give them. Secondly however, attitudes to practice can change so quickly at a young age.
I have seen it happen countless times - a student is coasting along - doing fine but their rate of progress might not be setting the world alight. Then something clicks. It might be something they see on TV, an upcoming performance, something said to them by a peer or a new song choice. Whatever it is, motivation increases and hence so does the time the student spends at the piano. This happens regularly and it’s always lovely to see it.
The other angle I will always explore with parents relates to song choice. We work hard to give students as wide a choice as possible with their songs, but we can’t cover them all. So if a student is struggling with motivation, dig deep with them to find a song they would really like to play. Let us know and myself or one of my colleagues will write it out for the student at the relevant standard. It’s amazing how often that makes a difference.
Where else but Sligo?
I met a former Kerry footballer at the weekend. I never played against this man, but he was a serious footballer, with four All-Ireland medals and multiple All-Stars to his name. We got chatting, and he played for me a beautiful piece of music by Frederic Chopin and told me the story of how it played a big part in the history of one particular Kerry footballing great.
He then told me the tale of how previously he had a similar conversation with a friend in Kerry. He got to the point of playing him the piece of music when five seconds into it, his friend turned his ear away and said “Yes but what about the minors this year?”
So he was impressed with the fact that I actually listened to it, and remarked that we all must be cultured in Sligo given that our crest is the only one with a book on it. Never have I been prouder of our wonderful county!
What’s New?
LYRIC FM: Slag me all you want about getting older (!), but turning on this station always calms life down.
LEITRIM v SLIGO: Last game of the league. Local rivals. Their last game went to penalties. Only one can get promoted. It all comes down to this Sunday. 1pm in Carrick-On-Shannon.
THE RECOVERY TOUR: I was watching the St. Patrick’s Day Parade last Friday, and in the midst of all the sports clubs, trucks and marching bands were two lads relaxing and looking great in the back of a Bentley. More power to ye Joe Shannon and Georgie Gorman -find out more here.
Finally…
This wasn’t the piece of music played to me by my new Kerry friend, but once I heard the name Chopin I was immediately reminded of it. One of the most beautiful pieces ever composed for piano. Close your eyes and take 4 minutes for yourself in the company of this master.
Questions:
Difficulty Level 3 - If the first note of the melody is ‘sol’ (5th note of the scale), what is the second?
Difficulty Level 5 - Complete the chord chart (below) for the first 8 bars. *Note this piece is originally written in 12/8 time but I have written it in 3/4 time below for ease of answering.
Till next time - Kieran.
